capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

WHO: [Bad username or site: gallitrap title= @ livejournal.com] and [Bad username or site: enigmaestro title= @ livejournal.com]
WHERE: Manhattan
WHEN: Midday Monday, 7/25
WARNINGS:
WHAT: People going places and talking to one another while doing so.
WORDS: yes; starting with prose because two am and bored, will likely degenerate from here.

It should not be considered a reckless abandon of safety, the child going alone into the city. Tensions were high in the City, as they had every right to be. For every person with half-baked theories on the sudden death of their Mayor, there was another to rabble about the disaster in the Aleutians, about the aversion in Yellowstone, about this or that new and dangerous thing. The network was worse -- kidnappings led to distrust, a swell of death and corpses on bright display on such a small screen. The City was becoming dangerous. No one was truly safe.

But, Ruka thought, shielding her eyes from the bright sun with one gloved hand, how many times had they gone through such cycles of violence and anxiety? When she had first arrived, the Network had been nothing but a chorus of warning: don't go out alone, don't trust anyone, look at all this carnage, all these mad people, all these horrible things that happen. It came and went in cycles. She didn't think herself invulnerable, but this was life. It is the job of a citizen to live their life as best they can, she remembered, under the protection of the law. The city would always be dangerous, fear wouldn't help anyone, and Ruka had things to do anyway.

Things that would be much easier to do if it weren't so darn hot. Long sleeves and gloves weren't garments she could exchange for tank tops and festive bracelets, no matter how warm it got -- and preemptively coming street side two stations too early just made the walk to where she needed to go that much longer. Flagging down a cab was the much wiser choice; at least that might have air conditioning.

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His eyebrow cocked before any other body part reacted. There was Ruka, he'd recognize her specific hairstyle within any populace. Ruka, alone, easing into a cab all by her lonesome, in the City. He kept his feet swift, stepping over to the yellow and checkered cab, and slipped in before the young girl had a chance to close the door.

"Hello, my dear," he said. He leaned forward, giving the driver directions. "In addition to the lady's destination, of course." Eddie grinned at the gruff reply he received. No matter. There was an itching down his spine, and this was some balm to mind.

"Hope you don't mind me hopping a ride. I'll pay, of course." His easy smile pushed the warmth. "But why, I wonder, are you in this part of the City? If you don't mind me asking."

The speed at which he entered the car and took control of the situation left Ruka startled, her eyebrows practically to her hairline in surprise. The momentary thought of danger was dashed almost immediately, for first the mark on her arm failed to react. It was only while he was giving directions that Ruka recognized this person as someone she knew.

She could not recall a time that she and Edward Nygma had met in person, but he had a certain way of speaking that she could not equate to anyone else. The rapid fire of his statements and the quickness of his movements struck her as unusual. But perhaps, she thought, that was just his way in person. There were many people who were far more confident and crafted over the hero network than in face-to-face interactions. There was less control, less shielding, in the real world.

After all, Ruka was one of them.

"Hello, Mister Nygma," she greeted to the first, her initial surprise tempering into an amicable familiarity. Seat belt was strapped over her lap as she gave her own address -- same initial direction, but branched separate destinations. With that settled, the journey began.

"And I don't mind." Her smile was small, but relaxed. "It's nothing exciting, though. There's a specialty tea shop down this way."

Eddie paused. He very nearly second-guessed his impulse, coming upon a young girl so abruptly. But the past few days had left him anxious, unnerved. Like someone who felt outside their skin. He was a man far more inclined to his impulses in such a state.

He smiled back at her, before nodding to the cab driver.

"I'll escort you, then. It sounds like a lovely place." He cleared his throat, folding his hands. The absurdity of his actions began to settle in the back of his mind. Ruka had always come across as a charming child, to him. One of the few he could suffer -- even enjoy -- in terms of company. Eridan was the other that followed suit, and a convenient mutual acquaintance. Deciding on that topic of choice, Eddie nodded and drew a few seamless syllables.

"Might I inquire?" He started, intent on doing it anyway. "Have you spoken with Eridan, at all? I know he's not in City any longer, but I was wondering."

He let the question hang in the air.

It was an expected topic; after all, Ruka had made an agreement. "A couple days ago," she replied, folding her unseasonably gloved hands over one another in her lap. "But not about what I offered I would. I'm sorry, it didn't seem like the right time."

Perhaps it could have been, if she knew more of what was going on. Besides vampires of the not-Nazi-or-Nazi-combating variety -- and even there she was mostly in the dark. She hadn't even known he'd left town. It wasn't the easiest thing, helping a person without knowing where best to focus, and offering advice only tangentially connected to the current problem seemed bad planning.

"Though I suppose it is safer for him, to be away from here," she mused. The City was going through one of its more tumultuous phases; even without his own brand of trouble, things would only get more dangerous.